Active Ageing –The EU’s Response To The Demographic Challenge

• Authors: Zofia Wysokińska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Europe’s demographic problem (an ageing population) is well-known and has been the object of a number of research projects in the EU. As an example of the scale of the problem, the percentage of persons 55 or older in the overall population of the EU was 30% in 2010, and is expected to rise to 37% in 2030. Raising the retirement age - the response implemented in a number of EU Member States in recent years - cannot be considered as a comprehensive solution to the problem. Older persons encounter more difficulties finding employment, even though they possess knowledge and experience which could be valuable in the conduct of economic activities. Recent years have witnessed a growth in the trend toward “active ageing”, which is considered to be ‘a process of optimization of the chances for good health, active participation, and security, in order to improve the quality of life over the passage of time’, a concept closely correlated with the idea of entrepreneurship among the elderly.It can be noted that there is no comprehensive policy supporting entrepreneurship of elderly people in the age of the Ageing Society in Europe. The aim of the paper is to present the foreseen benefits of the development of enterpreneurship of elderly people supporting policy in the EU and in Poland

PL

Demograficzny problem Europy (starzenie się społeczeństwa) jest ewidentny i wykazany przez wiele badań prowadzonych w UE. Dla przykładu, procent osób w wieku powyżej 55 lat wynosił 30% w roku 2010, a w roku 2030 ma wzrosnąć do 37%. Jednak podnoszenie wieku emerytalnego nie powinno być jedynym sposobem na walkę z tymi problemami, jako że starszym osobom jest znacznie trudniej znaleźć pracę, choć z drugiej strony posiadają oni wiedzę, umiejętności i doświadczenie, które mogłyby zostać spożytkowane w działalności gospodarczej. Na świecie nasila się także tzw. trend „aktywnego starzenia”, który oznacza „proces optymalizacji szans dla zdrowia, uczestnictwa i bezpieczeństwa, aby poprawić jakość życia wraz z upływem lat”, który również zawiera koncept przedsiębiorczości osób starszych. Jednak należy zauważyć, że nie ma całościowej polityki wspierającej przedsiębiorczość osób starszych w epoce Starzejącego się Społeczeństwa w Europie. Celem artykułu jest wskazanie przewidywanych korzyści z rozwoju koncepcji przedsiębiorczości ludzi starszych w UE i w Polsce.

Keywords

EN

demographic challenge; active ageing; enterpreneurship of elderly people

PL

wyzwania demograficzne; aktywne starzenie się; przedsiębiorczość ludzi starszych

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Comparative Economic Research. Central and Eastern Europe
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 93-107

Dates

published

2014-03-01

online

2014-04-25

Contributors

author

Zofia Wysokińska

• University of Łódź, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Department of World Economy and European Integration

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/cer-2014-0006